Cairns. Westcourt. Named after Michael Boland, an early pioneer in Cairns and founder of Boland's Store. He was born on 21 July 1863 & arrived in Cairns in early 1882. He opened a small shop in 1887 which grew rapidly into a major Department Store. He was an Alderman on the Council & one of the founders & subsequent Chairman of the Cairns Harbour Board.

Source:Brown, V. North Queensland Place Names Origins, 1993, p. 9

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Bolt Head

Temple Bay, north of Lockhart River. 46 metres (150 feet) high. Named by Captain James Cook on 18 August 1770. The reason is unknown but there is a Bolt Head on the coast of Devon, England. "A moderately high point which we called Bolt Head".

Source:Cooktown Shire Library name list

Coordinates:12 15 S 143 06 E

Bolton Street

Cairns. Whitfield. Named after C. E. Bolton, a retired water officer of the Cairns City Council. He served with the council from 1920-1956

Source:Brown, V. North Queensland Place Names Origins, 1993, p. 9

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Bolwarra Close

Cairns. Jungara. Named after the Bolwarra or Natice Guava tree (Eupomatia laurina)

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Bombax Court

Napranum. Botanical genus. Bombax ceiba is a large deciduous tree found in the Napranum scrub area

Source:Hibberd Library list

Coordinates:12 40 S 141 57 E

Bombeeta

Innisfail district. Aboriginal term, possibly after a vine found there

Source:Martinuzzi, A. L. Places and after whom they are named. Aboriginal names and their meanings. Innisfail and District Historical Society. Vol. 7, 1991, p. 13

Bon Villa Street

Innisfail. Named by developer Sam Brischetto, who developed the suburb Belvedere where this street is located

Torres Strait. Named by captain James Cook on 23 August 1770 after the large number of Booby birds on the Island. As Cook records; "And found it to be mostly a barren rock frequented by birds such as boobies, a few of which we shot & occasioned my giving it the name Booby Island." Also known in the 19th century as Post Office Island as mail & provisions were left here for passing sailors. The Post Office was established in 1835 by Captain Hobson of the Rattlesnake. Originally named Rijder's Eyelandt in 1756 by J.E. Gonzal, Dutch commander of the ships Rijder & Buijis.

Between Mareeba & Chillagoe. An Aboriginal word meaning the jump up, referring to the mountain behind the town, which is known as Boonmoo Pinnacle. The township was surveyed by B.W. Austin on 8 May 1902

Source:Hooper, Colin. Angor to Zillmanton, 1993, p. 127

Coordinates:17 45 S 145 4 E

Boot Reef

Torres Strait. Named by Captain Flinders in 1803

Source:Australia Pilot vol 3, 1973, p. 227

Coordinates:10 04 S 144 40 E

Bootie Islet

Great Barrier Reef off Cape Grenville, part of the Cockburn Island group. Named after John Bootie, midshipman aboard Captain Cook's ship the Endeavour.

Source:Kenny, John. Before the First Fleet, 1995, p. 172

Bora Camp

Innisfail District. Named in 1873 by G. E. Dalrymple. This was the camp near the mouth of Victory Creek

Source:Jones, Dorothy. Hurricane Lamps & Blue Umbrellas, p. 388

Bora Ground

West of Innisfail. A camp of the Jordan Gold Field at Tchuken Bora ground. It was the only cleared ground in the area & because of this became a settlement where pack animals could graze. Named after the bora (corroboree) ground here. The Palmerston National Park rangers office is here today

Source:Hooper, Colin. Angor to Zillmanton, 1993, p. 364

Coordinates:17 35 S 145 36 E

Borello Street

Ingham. Named for an Hinchinbrook Shire Councillor, E.A. Borello

Source:Hinchinbrook Shire Council List

Coordinates:18 39 S 146 10 E

Borland Street

Mareeba. Named on 14 November 1952 for Hugh Borland, schoolteacher & historian

Cooktown. This was the boundary between town & country; The Cooktown Municipal Council & the Hann Divisional Board

Source:Cooktown Shire Library name list

Coordinates:15 28 S 145 15 E

Bountiful Islands

Gulf of Carpentaria, east of Mornington Island. Named by Captain Matthew Flinders of the Investigator on 4 December 1802 after the large number of turtles found here. As per Flinder's diary entry; "In the morning, two boats went to bring off the officer and people with what turtles had been caught; but their success had been so great, that it was necessary to hoist out the launch; and it took nearly the whole day to get on board what the decks and holds could contain, without impediment to the working of the ship. The Bountiful Island, for so I termed it, is nearly three miles long, and generally low and sandy."

Cape York Peninsula. Named by John R. Bradford in 1883 after the General Inspector of the Post & Telegraph Department

Source:Jack, Robert Logan. Northmost Australia, 1921, p. 666

Bowden

Cape York Peninsula, on the Pascoe River Wolfram Field. The first wolfram in the area was discovered by John Dickie while prospecting alone in 1887. When Dickie, Lakeland and William Henry Bowden were seeking gold at the Pascoe in 1892 they found further wolfram deposits but the price of the mineral was too low to warrant mining. Some time later when the price became good, one of the said trio gave a mud-map and information to a prospecting party consisting of George Brown, Evennett, Stait, Williamson and Enright. This party located the area and found further deposits. William Bowden then went up there and became the principal wolfram-getter. In March 1901 records show that Bowden sent in wolfram to the value of 485 pounds Sterling. It was for his participation as a miner there that the settlement was called Bowden.

Cairns. Edmonton. Names in the Hambledon Garden Estate commemorate people who gave more than 10 years service to the Hambledon Mill. Name approved by the Cairns City Council on 23 January 1995

Source:Cairns City Council file no 52105

Coordinates:17 01 S 145 45 E

Boyett Road

Mission Beach. Named after the Boyett family who used to live here. In the 1940s E. Boyett settled here from Innisfail and opened the first regular store here in 1947, adding a post office 2 years later as well as building a recreation hall.

Source:Mackness, Constance. Clump Point & District, 1970, p. 94

Coordinates:17 35 S 146 06 E

Boylan Creek

Innisfail District. Named after Kate Boylan, one of the original Sisters of Mercy land selectors

Source:Jones, Dorothy. Hurricane Lamps & Blue Umbrellas, p. 388

Boyle's Creek

See Chinaman's Creek

Bradford Street

Innisfail. Associated with Mulholland in the construction of the water tower and water system

Torres Strait, North-east of Darnley Island. Named after the Bramble surveying ship commanded by John Sweatman along the Queensland Coast from 1845-1847. Also known as Massaramcoer. the Island name is Maizab Kaur

Coordinates:9 8 S 143 52 E

Bramble Channel

Torres Strait, south of Moa Island. Named after the Bramble surveying ship commanded by John Sweatman along the Queensland Coast from 1845-1847.

Bramble Reef

Great Barrier Reef, east of Hinchinbrook Island. Named by Captain Francis Price Blackwood of the Fly after the Bramble surveying ship commanded by John Sweatman along the Queensland Coast from 1845-1847.

Cairns. Clifton Beach. Named after Bramble Reef, east of Hinchinbrook Island, which was named by Captain Francis Price Blackwood of the Fly after the Bramble surveying ship commanded by John Sweatman along the Queensland Coast from 1845-1847.

North West of Cardwell. Named in honour of Brice Henry, born 3 October, 1877. He was a well known cattle producer and Shire Chairman. There is a memorial in the form of a cairn and tablet erected to him 14 km from the commencement of the Kirrama Range Road. Although the memorial is to Brice Henry, on some maps it is referred to as Bruce Henry

Cairns. Kewarra Beach. Streets are named after Australian beaches in this sub-division. Brighton is a beach in southern Melbourne

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Brinsmead

Cairns. Suburb. Named after Horace Clowes Brinsmead who began sugar growing at Freshwater Estate (also known as the Virginia Plantation) in 1882. He also served on the Cairns Divisional Board & died following an aircraft accident in 1933

Source:Brown, V. North Queensland Place Names Origins, 1993, p. 10

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Brinsmead Gap

Cairns. Named after Horace Clowes Brinsmead who began sugar growing at Freshwater Estate (also known as the Virginia Plantation) in 1882. He also served on the Cairns Divisional Board & died following an aircraft accident in 1933

Source:Brown, V. North Queensland Place Names Origins, 1993, p. 10

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Brinsmead Road

Cairns. Brinsmead. Gazetted on 15 February 1946. So named because of the Brinsmead Gap. This gap was named after Horace Clowes Brinsmead who began sugar growing at Freshwater Estate (also known as the Virginia Plantation) in 1882. He also served on the Cairns Divisional Board & died following an aircraft accident in 1933

Great Barrier Reef, off Ingham. Named for the ship HMS Britomart which sailed through these waters on her way from Sydney to Port Essington (Darwin) in 1838 & again in 1841

Source:Nicholson, Ian. Via Torres Strait, 1996, p. 144

Coordinates:18 15 S 146 39 E

Brodie Cay

Great Barrier Reef. North East of Townsville. Named after Captain Hugh Brodie of the Wansfell, who passed this way in 1864

Source:Nicholson, Ian. Via Torres Strait, 1996, p. 211-12

Brodie's Creek

Atherton Tableland. Glen Allyn District. Named after Albert Brodie who owned the land through which the creek passed

Source:Eacham Historical Society Bulletin no 93, August 1984

Brodziak Close

Mareeba. Named on 18 May 1990 for Lieutenant Edward Remilton Brodziak, Son of Edward and Elizabeth Maud Brodziak, of Atherton, Queensland. Killed in Papua New Guinea, aged 28, during World War II on 21 January 1943. QX15350, A.I.F. 2/9 Bn., Australian Infantry

North-east of Hinchinbrook Island. Islands are South Island, Middle Island, Tween Island & North Island. Originally known as Brooke's Islands and then Brooke Islands. Named possibly by lieutenant Charles Jeffreys of the Kangaroo in 1815. Charted by that name by Phillip King in 1819

Named after F.G. Brown who worked alluvial tin on Wyndham Creek in 1883. The creek was later renamed Oakey Creek

Source:Hooper, Colin. Angor to Zillmanton, 1993, p. 160

Coordinates:17 34 S 145 8 E

Bruce Highway

Honours Henry Adam Bruce, MLA, one time member for Tablelands (Mulgrave) electorate. He served for many years as the Minister for Main Roads and later became the member for the Federal seat of Leichardt. It was gazetted the Bruce Highway in June 1963

Mission Beach. Several streets in South Mission Beach are named for a nautical theme.

Coordinates:17 35 S 146 06 E

Buchan Point

Northernmost Cairns suburb. Named by George Dalrymple in 1873 after a district in his native Aberdeenshire in Scotland. According to the Cook Shire Library list it was named by William Buchan for himself when he landed here on 27 October 1881 after deserting from HMS Conflict at the age of 24. Mount Buchan is 671 metres (2 200 feet) high & Buchan Point itself is about 20 metres high.

Miriwini. Named for Thomas Buckland of Charters Towers who invested financially in cane farming in the area

Source:Cairns Historical Society Bulletin no. 161, April 1973

Coordinates:17 24 S 145 55 E

Bugeja Park

Cairns. Freshwater. Named after the Bugeja family, who owned the land where it is situated on Simon Street. They grew bananas on this land for many years & in later years had the land subdivided into housing lots

Source:Benfer, John. A History of Freshwater, 1995, p. 32

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Buka Street

Cairns. Trinity Beach. Streets in this subdivision are named for a Papua New Guinea theme. Buka Island is a part PNG

Hodgkinson Goldfield, Beaconsfield. A rocky hill near where the Monarch Mine was, was called Bul's Pinnacle, after Henry Buls, a packer & carrier & leading mining man. Nowadays misspelled as Bull's Pinnacle

Source:Pike, Glenville. Pioneers' Country, 1980, p. 62

Bullion Street

Goldsborough Valley. Named for a gold theme. Name approved by the Cairns City Council on 5 December 1994

Source:Cairns City Council file no 52105

Bulolo Close

Cairns. Trinity Beach. Streets in this subdivision are named for a Papua New Guinea theme. Bulolo is a town in PNG

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Bump Road

Port Douglas over the Coastal Range to the Atherton Tableland. So named because of the rough & steep terrain of the track. The actual "Bump" section of the track was about 12 km from Port Douglas & opened at the end of August 1877. This track was blazed by Christie Palmerston in 1877

Source:Cairns Historical Society Bulletin no. 109, May 1968

Bunda Street

Cairns. Paramatta Park. Named after G. D. Edwards, a surveyor, whose nickname was Bunda. This tribal name was bestowed upon him when he lived among Aborigines in the Burnett district after being shipwrecked.

Cairns Suburb. Named after the estate of Archdeacon Joseph Campbell, which was named after his house, the Bungalow, circa 1910. It was called the bungalow from the type of roof construction used. His property was where this suburb is now situated. Bungalow Railway Siding here was named for the same reason

Torres Strait. Named after HMAS Bungaree who on 5 March 1944 switched from a mine laying to a hydrographic role in the Torres Strait

Source:Nicholson, Ian. Via Torres Strait, 1996, p. 339

Bunny Adair Park

Cairns. Freshwater. Named after Herbert (Bunny) Adair, who ran the hotel in Freshwater. He was a Mulgrave Shire Councillor from 1939 & was elected to the Queensland parliament for the ALP in 1953 for the seat of Cook & was the local member for 17 years. He came to Freshwater in 1926. The site of the park was originally the Recreation Reserve, which was gazetted in 1942.

Source:Benfer, John. A History of Freshwater, 1995, p. 9 & p. 29-30

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Bunting's Creek

Near Mission Beach. Named after John Bunting, timber getter in the area from about 1908.

South Mission Beach. Originally known as Silky Oak Landing after the timber collected there and situated near the mouth of the Hull River. Later named after John Bunting, timber getter of the early 20th century

Cairns. Westcourt. Named after the first Town Clerk of Cairns, Joseph Albert Bunting, appointed by the original Town Council at its first meeting on 22 July 1885. He was Town Clerk from 1885-1898 and died on 9 July 1916, aged 75

Source:Cairns Historical Society Bulletin no. 65, July 1964

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Bunting Street

Mission Beach. Named after Jack Bunting, timber getter in the early 20th century who cut timber in the area

Cairns. White Rock. Streets in this subdivision are named for a motion picture theme. Richard Burton was a famous actor who was also famous for his 2 marriages to Elizabeth Taylor. He made 47 films and passed away on 5 August 1984. His films and plays included Camelot, Hamlet & Private Lives

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Buru

See Turnagain Island

Butcher Hill

See Lakeland Downs

Butcher's Creek

Palmer River Goldfield. So named because Jack Edwards, Leslie & Duff had set up a butcher's shop & store here circa 1873-1874. The township of Maytown sprang up here. This is not the Butchers Creek on the Atherton Tableland

Source:Pike, Glenville. Queen of the North, 1979, p. 41

Butler Drive

Kuranda. Named after the Butler family, who lived in the district

Coordinates:16 49 S 145 38 E

Butler Street

Tully. Named after Hugh Ramsay Butler who was killed in the First World War on 28 November 1916, Private no. 1628, 47th Bn., Australian Infantry, A.I.F, aged 23, and is buried at BULLS ROAD CEMETERY, FLERS, Somme, France. Butler was the son of Thomas and May Mulreamy Butler of Fringford on the Upper Murray

Gordonvale. Honours James Buzacott, entomologist and plant breeder attached to the B.S.E.S. Meringa from 1926-1970. He carried out the first experimental use of B.H.C. for the control of the cane grub in 1946. Awarded an M.B.E. for his services to industry in 1970

Palmer River Goldfield. Named after Johnny J. Byers. Named in 1877 by Surveyor James Reid after Byers & "Greasy" Bill Little, who opened up a butcher shop there in 1875. The town was founded in 1874

Source:Hooper, Colin. Angor to Zillmanton, 1993, p. 95 & 97

Coordinates:16 1 S 144 42 E

Bynoe Inlet

See Bynoe River

Bynoe River

Western Cape York. Named after Benjamin Bynoe, surgeon, a member of Captain John Lort Stokes expedition on the ship HMS Beagle in August 1841

Source:Jack, Robert Logan. Northmost Australia, 1921, p. 166 & 164

Coordinates:17 31 S 140 44 E

Byrnes Close

Cairns. Whitfield. Honours Thomas Joseph Byrnes who was elected as Member for Cairns in the 1893 elections and became Attorney General in that Labour Government. In 1898 he became Premier. He was president of the Cairns Racing Club in 1894

Source:Brown, V. North Queensland Place Names Origins, 1993, p. 12

Coordinates:16 55 S 145 46 E

Byrnes Street

Mareeba. Named about 1891 for Thomas Joseph Byrnes, M.L.A. for Cairns & Premier in 1898

About this blog

This is a blog about aspects of Queensland history that interest me. I find history in general, and Queensland history in particular, fascinating, and will use this as a vehicle to share my research with you. My current interests are Queensland postage stamps (philately) and postal history which are covered in 4 specialised blogs listed below

Many of these articles cover the life and times of John Douglas, a 19th century Queensland premier and politician. My PhD thesis was a biography on his life and times and is available electronically (Kindle) through Amazon.